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Crane recovery work commences









pictures by Joe Neary of Yo Liverpool

Liverpool crane-hit block 'to be demolished'



ONE OF the apartment blocks a 200ft crane smashed into will be torn down, officials confirmed today.
An internal staircase crucial to the building’s structure was wiped out when 55 tonnes of concrete blocks punched their way from the roof to the basement of the building.

Occupants of the plush Baltic triangle flats are being told they will be out of their homes for at least another nine months.

In that time the 30-plus apartment block will be partly demolished and could be re-built.

The crane buckled and crashed into blocks 24 and 26 Cornhill in Chandlers Wharf last Monday.

The ECHO has also spoken to Liverpool lawyers who say compensation claims are being lodged by occupants of the flats.

They plan to claim damages for the emotional trauma suffered by the mayhem and its aftermath.

Engineer Steve White, who works with the city’s building control team, described block 24 as being in a “horrific condition”.

He added: “You would have to be made to go into 24 now. I can be realistically sure that 24 will have to be deconstructed.”

It is too risky to send builders inside to recover the concrete blocks – which were the crane’s counter-balance – and shore up the structure without taking the building apart, Mr White said.

Asked how long the work would take with “perfect conditions”, he estimated six to eight weeks to rip the block down and another six to seven months to rebuild it again – if it is to be re-built.

It is hoped block 26 will survive despite bearing the weight of the crane for almost a week.

THE ECHO